Meta Can't Use Calif. Law To Ax Ill. Biometric Privacy Dispute

By Allison Grande

The protections offered by California's data privacy law are an inferior substitute for those under Illinois' biometric privacy law, an Illinois federal judge found, refusing to allow Meta to escape a proposed class action accusing it of improperly storing Messenger and Messenger Kids users' facial geometries.

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Plaintiff's Depo Dooms Cert. In Blue Diamond False Ad Suit

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois federal judge Friday denied class certification in a lawsuit accusing Blue Diamond Growers of deceiving consumers by describing its almonds as "smokehouse" when their titular taste comes from synthetic flavoring, saying the proposed lead plaintiff admitted in a deposition she had knowledge of the alleged defect but continued to purchase the product.

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States Back Challenge To IRS Nix Of Wind, Solar Safe Harbor

By Asha Glover

Sixteen Democratic-led states are backing a legal challenge to an Internal Revenue Service notice eliminating a safe harbor test that large wind and solar projects could use to qualify for clean energy tax credits.

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Debt Services Firm Challenges Connecticut Banking Penalties

By Aaron Keller

An Illinois company that provides administrative services to debt adjusters has sued the Connecticut Department of Banking, challenging an administrative order to make restitution to Constitution State customers and potentially pay up to $100,000 for each alleged violation of debt adjustment and money transmission licensing rules.

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Justices Won't Hear Appeal Based On Miranda Rights Hearing

By Phillip Bantz

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an appeal from a sweepstakes machine business owner convicted of bribery who is seeking limits on law enforcement officers' ability to interrogate individuals detained during a search without first reading them their Miranda rights.

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Hims & Hers Misleads With GLP-1 Claims In Ads, Court Told

By Mark Payne

A class of GLP-1 patients claim that telehealth company Hims & Hers falsely advertised its compounded injections as made with "the same active ingredient" as weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy despite containing other key ingredients, according to a suit filed in Illinois federal court.

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Northern Trust Wants Heiress' Fraud Claims Tossed

By Emilie Ruscoe

The Northern Trust Co. seeks to shed certain claims that it failed to prevent a former vice president from looting the trust of an elderly banking heiress, arguing that it was also a victim of the alleged scheme and "no company is immune to dishonest actors."

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7th Circ. Orders Deeper Probe Of $13M Fraudster's Severance

By Lauraann Wood

A "highly suspect" severance payment a home building company made to a $13.7 million trading fraudster who also stole from the business should be further examined before a district court determines whether the payment violated a pending asset citation order, the Seventh Circuit said Monday.

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The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Leadership Strategy After Day 1

For law firm leaders, ensuring a newly combined law firm lives up to its promise, both in its first days of operation and well after, includes tough decisions, clear and specific communication, and cheerleading, says Peter Michaud at Ballard Spahr.

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Analysis

Feds' White Collar Crime Enforcement 'Retreat' Raises Alarms

By Phillip Bantz

Money laundering-related fines and tax fraud investigations plummeted last year as President Donald Trump shifted federal agents away from combating financial crime to focus on the immigration crackdown, according to recent reports that have raised alarms among experts about the state of white collar enforcement in the U.S.

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Mich. Federal Judge On Leave Amid Drunk-Driving Charges

By Carolyn Muyskens

A Michigan federal judge is taking a voluntary leave of absence while awaiting resolution of drunk-driving charges.

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10th, 5th Circ. Stalwarts Step Back From Bench

By Jared Foretek

U.S. Circuit Judge Timothy Tymkovich has announced that he'll take senior status from his seat on the Tenth Circuit, just a day after U.S. Circuit Judge James L. Dennis said he'd step down from the Fifth Circuit.

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Brief

ABA Mulls Repeal Of Embattled Law School DEI Standards

By Emily Sawicki

The American Bar Association's Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar has voted to move forward with a plan to repeal its diversity and inclusion standards for law schools, which have been suspended since last February amid the White House crackdown on DEI initiatives.

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9th Circ. Grants Atty Fee Appeal In Eye Drop Pricing Suit

By Rae Ann Varona

District courts cannot reduce fee awards to attorneys based on a firm's size, the Ninth Circuit ruled in a published opinion Tuesday, sending a case back to a California federal court to recalculate attorney fees awarded to a "small" firm that represented wholesalers in a Robinson-Patman Act suit against eye drop manufacturers.

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ACLU Says Justices' Tariffs Ruling Dooms ICE No Bond Policy

By Tom Lotshaw

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling curbing President Donald Trump's authority to impose tariffs also undercuts the administration's sweeping assertion that it can subject all noncitizens to mandatory detention during removal proceedings, the American Civil Liberties Union told the Eighth Circuit.

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Analysis

By Caroline Simson

In addition to the likely chaotic refund process to follow last week's bombshell U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down the Trump administration's broad tariff regime, the decision could also result in a wide range of private commercial disputes, and possibly even investment treaty claims against the U.S.

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SEC Lays Out New Enforcement Vision In Revised Guidelines

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday updated its enforcement manual for the first time in eight years, saying that the changes were part of an effort to build a fairer and more transparent investigative process.

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SDNY's New Self-Report Policy Eases Path To Declinations

By Stewart Bishop

Manhattan federal prosecutors on Tuesday unveiled a new business-friendly corporate criminal enforcement policy for companies that promptly self-report financial crimes, promising declinations and no fines or monitors for eligible companies that turn themselves in.

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Key Details To Know As Judiciary Rules Face Decisive Votes

By Jeff Overley

Judiciary panels are poised for pivotal votes on controversial rules governing wide-ranging topics — from the age-old and analog to the newfangled and high-tech — after a six-month stretch of public hearings and trade group mobilization climaxed with an influx of impassioned opinions.

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Judiciary Seeks Control Over Courthouse Maintenance

By Courtney Bublé

The federal judiciary says courthouses are in "crisis," with an $8.3 billion backlog in maintenance, and on Tuesday repeated its request to Congress for the direct authority to maintain the buildings.

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